Menu
Participants will learn three developmentally appropriate reading strategies to support their learners at home.
The past year families have been forced into a more hands on role in their child’s education, and many families are ill-equipped to take on this role. They feel overwhelmed and are not sure where to turn. This Family Literacy training will give parents clear, step by step strategies to help their emergent readers grow, presented in a developmentally appropriate way. By the end of the training parents will have a base level of knowledge that they will then use to help their readers grow at home.
The audience for this training will be families and caregivers of K-1 students in the Public Prep Network.
This training will be delivered online, through self-paced sessions.
Learner Characteristics:
Based on these characteristics, this course has been intentionally designed to scaffold learning and deliver instructional strategies in a clear and concise way. This course has been designed to build upon incremental success, which will increase motivation of the learners to continue with the entirety of it.
This Family Literacy Training is intended to serve as a resource for Public Prep families and will be taken voluntarily by those who want to enrich their understanding of strategies to support emergent readers at home. With that in mind, the assessment plan for this course is designed to ensure that:
• Learning is taking place and being retained throughout the three modules
• Learners are able to build upon small, incremental successes
• Learners are receiving in the moment feedback multiple times, which will help them immediately apply and strengthen what they have learned
The key aspect of this assessment plan is the idea of formative feedback multiple times while learning in each module. This is important for learners of this course, as they will immediately apply the reading strategy they have learned when reading with their child and that formative feedback will help ensure they have a deep understanding of the literacy strategy they will practice.
This assessment plan also calls for varied assessment methods throughout each module, with some assessments even serving as module activities. The plan is designed to keep learners engaged through a variety of interactive activities.
| Assessment Method | Description | Rationale |
| End of Module Quizzes | Each of the three modules will end with a multiple choice quiz that is self-scoring with feedback for each question. | Summative assessment that provides feedback immediately after each module has been completed, allowing for learners to go back and review any concepts that they have not mastered. |
| Drag and Drop Activity | In the first module learners will drag and drop steps of a proper reading preview in order. There will be pre-written feedback given after answers are submitted. | Provides an in-module opportunity for formative feedback and multiple opportunities to practice the skill that is being taught in the module. |
| True/False Activity | In the first module learners will use true or false to identify predictive or nonpredictive questions. There will be pre-written feedback given after answers are submitted. | Provides opportunity for formative feedback in the module and feedback that will guide the learner towards the skill that is being taught in the module. |
| Case Study Scenario | In the second module participants will read a case study of an adult reading with a child. After reading the case study learners will identify with a short answer which questions were effective during reading, and which ones had room for growth. There will be pre-written feedback given after answers are submitted. | Provides opportunity for formative feedback, and an opportunity for learners to see how another adult has applied the literacy skill from this module. This will direct learners towards metacognition, and reflection on their own practice of this skill. Pre-written feedback will guide learners towards critical thinking about the skill from the module. |
| Matching/Sorting list of questions | In the third module participants will sort a list of questions by dragging and dropping that would effectively prompt a retelling conversation. There will be pre-written feedback given after answers are submitted. | Provides an in-module opportunity for formative feedback and multiple opportunities to practice the skill that is being taught in the module. |
This course aims to have a purposeful variety of activity types, including “Absorb,” “Do,” and “Connect” activities. These activities all contribute to the deepest understanding and retention of material for the range of different learners that will be taking this course
Absorb activities present information to learners through readings, listening, or watching. This activity type is helpful for the initial presentation of information, which is how it is implemented in this course.
Do activities invite the learner to actively explore, practice, and discover new information. This activity type is particularly useful after initial information has been presented because it allows learners to immediately practice the material they have learned.
Connect activities link new and prior learning together in a broader sense. This activity type allows for learners apply what they’ve learned into a broader scoop. Connect activities come together at the end of this course’s module to enable the deepest understanding of course material as possible.
While designing this course, particular attention has been placed in ensuring that the three activity types are balanced. This ensures that learners are engaged and adheres to the Universal Design for Learning Principals.
Below you will find a series of activities that were designed for the following objective:
Activity 1: Absorb Activity – Reading/Listening to a set of slides, including previewing steps and helpful questions
This activity is the initial presentation of the first literacy strategy in this course. It will include a set of slides the explains what previewing a text entails, why it is important, and what kinds of questions they should ask when previewing a text with their learners at home.
The layout for these slides will be:
Slide 1 | Initial explanation of strategy, answering the question WHAT is previewing a text |
Slide 2 | Explain WHY previewing a text is important before starting to read |
Slide 3 | Step by step instruction on how to preview a slide with a reader |
Slide 4 | Video example embedded in slide with someone modeling this strategy |
Slide 5 | Review step by step instructions on how to preview a text with a reader, and include exemplary questions to ask while previewing a text |
This activity will include varied visuals and voiceovers to ensure that learners are absorbing the information in multiple ways, falling in line with best practices and UDL guidelines.
Activity 2: Do Activity – Drag and Drop Steps of Previewing a Text
Followed by the initial presentation of information, the next activity will have learners drag and drop the steps of previewing a text, putting the steps in order. This activity allows for additional practice and review of the information they learned in the first activity. There will also be formative feedback given after each attempt, which will give learners areas for review.
The order will be randomized for participants, but the previewing text steps will eventually be put in this order:
In keeping with UDL Guidelines, this activity will include an audio option, if learners would like to hear verbal instructions. Also, this activity allows for learners to build their conceptual knowledge with the opportunity for additional support and practice.
Activity 3: Connect Activity – Self Reflection Writing with Guiding Questions
The final connect activity for each module will be a self-reflection. Self-reflection when learning a new skill is an important step, and allows for learners to process their learning and practice and set goals for future practice. After learning the previewing strategy, practicing it with do activities and their readers at home, learners will be prompted to respond on paper to the following guiding questions:
References
Horton, W. (2011). E-Learning by design. John Wiley & Sons.
One of my passions is growing as a lifelong learner, and this course helped me continue to learn and develop as an Instructional Designer. While I learned a great deal in this course, there were a few key takeaways that I will carry into my future work.
The first key takeaway was taking the time to truly align my course objectives, then assessments, and finally activities. Alignment in one’s design ensures for a cohesive learning experience for designers, instructors, and students. Well aligned instruction ensures that activities that are embedded in instruction actually assess the learning objective, and what is being expected of the learner. Assessments should be created with close consideration of learning objectives. This course allowed me the time and space to focus on purposeful alignment, which will be a priority in my continued work in the field.
Another fundamental takeaway is the importance developing a variety of engaging activity types, including absorb, do, and connect activities. It is so important to balance these activities in an engaging way that promotes retention of course material. In my experience it can be easy to rely heavily on absorb activities for e-learning, but through this course I have been encouraged to think creatively about how include additional do and connect activities, which will ensure the deepest understanding of course material. In this course I have taken the time to create activities that are balanced and engaging for a variety of different learners.
Moving forward, I will apply this learning and continue to grow as an Instructional Designer.
References
Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). Align Assessments, Objectives, Instructional Strategies - Eberly Center - Carnegie Mellon University. Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/alignment.html
Horton, W. (2011). E-Learning by design. John Wiley & Sons.
© 2023 – Flair With Claire | All Rights Reserved
Quiz Instructions: Complete this multiple choice quiz. You can take it as many times as you need to. There is feedback provided for each question.
Feedback: Going on a book walk is not actually physically going to a location! When you go on a book walk you are going to preview, or look through a text together with your reader. This should be completed before you start reading together. Previewing a text also includes asking and answering predictive questions like, “What do you think this story will be about?”
Feedback: ALL of the selections were correct! If you preview all of these sections and discuss predictive questions with your reader, they will be primed and ready to begin reading Make sure that when you are previewing a text, that you are looking through all of the important parts of the book together. This will help activate your learner’s schema, and get them ready to make predictions about what is going to come in the story or text.
Feedback: When young children are learning how to read it is important for them to be able to follow a predictable pattern. Keeping that in mind, it will be helpful if your book walks together always follow the same, predictable pattern: Cover, Table of Contents (if applicable), Significant Pictures, Back Cover. Then, when you are finished flipping through the pages you all can discuss what you saw, in order. This predictable pattern will help you AND your reader know what is supposed to come next.
Feedback: When you are asking questions while previewing the text it is important to keep the conversation open ended and inquisitive. This can be accomplished by asking questions about what you all might think the story might be about. This is also a good time to activate your student’s prior knowledge about a topic by asking them what they already know about the book’s topic or the characters. This conversation will help get your reader’s brain ready for some of the vocabulary and ideas that will be presented during reading.
Feedback: As stated, previewing a text helps prepare readers for what they are going to read, and sets the purpose for your time together! You might be activating prior knowledge, making predictions, or recognizing the big topic that you are going to learn about. All of these ideas are important for readers to think about before they open a book to begin reading!